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CHOICE Review

Mechanic, one of America's leading medical sociologists, has compiled a number of his articles into a cohesive collection that sheds light on the evolving nature of the US health care system. Although specialists may have read the essays when they were originally published in scholarly journals, this compilation is exceptionally useful for anyone interested in the present and future state of the US health care system. The subject is divided into four major areas: issues in health policy, promotion of health and management of illness, the health professions, and the health of special populations (the elderly, the mentally ill, etc.). A brief introduction serves as a basis for understanding the interrelationships between the separate essays. There is an index, which is unusual in this type of compilation, and each essay concludes with a list of references. Readers would do well to read this book in conjunction with that of another medical sociologist, Paul Starr, whose The Social Transformation of American Medicine (CH, Apr '85), provides historical perspective as well as more extensive analysis of several topics covered by Mechanic's essays. For advanced undergraduate and graduate students.-M. Kaufman, Westfield State College